Grieving mother who lost her daughter 16 minutes after birth wins decisive battle with council

A grieving mother who lost her daughter when she was only 16 minutes old has won a year-long battle with the council calling for a white picket fence to be erected around her grave.

Holly Bone arrives at a baby cemetery to bury her newborn daughter and discovers that her child's grave is one of her few without a fence. Did.

After seeing the decorated lot at Hawkinge Cemetery in Folkestone, Kent, her 23-year-old next to her slab of concrete she was supposed to use is her daughter's. I put up a fence for

However, she was soon grieved after her death, and she had signed an agreement not to erect a fence.

Nearly a year after Ava Guzman-Bourne's funeral last August, Miss Vaughn fought the Folkestone and Hythe District Councils for permission to maintain the fence.

And after her battle, on Monday lunchtime, she received a call from the council, saying she could keep it.

Ava is Lived for only 16 minutes but died after being diagnosed with spina bifida, a birth defect that halts spinal development.

Her 23-year-old mother from Folkestone said of her ordeal in the past year: grass.

"That's what they wanted from Eva, it's just grass.

"I visited Ava's grave with my four-year-old daughter before I put up the fence. At that time, it was necessary to draw a line in the middle of the grave so that my daughter would not stand on the other side.

"There was no such thing.

"That's not right. She's a baby. She's in bed at the end of the day. She shouldn't be with us.

"She couldn't even cry, she couldn't even open her eyes. I think the fence is the best thing for her."

The family initially had many fences We had planned to bury Eva in the old baby cemetery, but a last minute change made her one of the first babies born in the new area. none.

Miss Bourne added: She says she won't put up a fence.

"We had only been heartbroken for a few days, and had just signed. We wanted to go through the process, but we hadn't thought it through.

``Come to her funeral. It was fenced in."

The people in the old baby yard signed the same papers, she said, but the council acknowledged their complaints and said that it was not Miss Bourne's.

She said: "I was told fences weren't allowed, but I still have them so I felt targeted. Why aren't they allowed?"

Miss Bourne was so upset that the Council refused to permit the fence, and said they would move Ava to the old part of the cemetery.

Said: ``We did some research and found that there was still space in the old baby yard where Ava may have been placed. We had no choice but to sign this regulation.

"The first time they took Eva's fence. When this happened, we called the Folkestone and Highes District Council and, as a last resort, moved her to an old baby garden so we could keep her fence.

"But no, no, I was told that even if I moved into the old baby's yard, her fence would not be allowed."

But while other lots were being mowed, her family cut Eva's grass with kitchen shears. had to mow.

Miss Bone said: "They sent me an email saying that you had signed the rules and that it was a problem for the gardener to cut the grass, but they were the first to ask if I could use Ava."

"Imagine a baby's yard is problematic. Every day with a baby girl, they refuse to mow her grass." It's better to have that problem than never to happen.We have to balance these problems, but it didn't matter to them.

We've had fences for years and never had a problem."

"Ava's yard was lined with mower ropes to keep it out. The grass always grew much longer than anyone else's, and every week we would go out into the garden and cut her grass with kitchen shears."

Folkestone and Hythe District Council said the U-turn was allowed after officials realized that "the operational concerns raised can be overcome."

A spokesman said:

"After reconsidering the issue, the operational concerns currently being raised can be overcome, so we decide to leave the low fence alone.

"We are children. We will review our zoning regulations and consider how to proceed, taking into account the needs and wishes of the bereaved and the council's cemetery management duties and obligations."

Of her victory, Miss Bourne said: They are allowed to keep their fences up."